Stringers Spotlight: 'Trad Mesh' from Youngs Bros. and Dave White

While traveling through New York this summer on one of several trips to the Empire State, ILGear.com ran into Tim Youngs, who along with his brother, Kevin, operates Youngs Brothers Lacrosse, a longtime lacrosse operation in Canton, New York.

For many years, Tim and Kevin have been a leading provider of stick stringing services to the major lacrosse manufacturers, most recently for Warrior and Brine. The Youngs Brothers are deeply involved in the game and have been for decades, as players, coaches and highly skilled stick doctors.

When we met up with Tim in Syracuse at the Empire State Cup, and he showed us a couple examples of Trad Mesh, a patent-pending concept that combines elements of traditional and mesh pockets. It turns out the concept came from Dave White, who played lacrosse at Brown University in the 1970s (roommates with Dom Starsia along the way) and played on three Iroquois Nationals world teams (1978, 1982, 1986).

"The idea came from Dave," Tim said. "It's an idea he's had in his head for quite a while. We sat down one day and starting talking about some things. He asked me, 'Can we bring this to life?'"

White had sketched some drawings of what he was thinking, and Tim turned the idea over to his brother, Kevin. Before long had created exactly what White had envisioned, which was a pocket that would function in a way that ultimately gives the player outstanding feel and control of the ball. As master stringers with more than two decades of high-level experience in the industry, stringing for major companies and college lacrosse teams across the country, the end result is something both Tim and Kevin believe players will appreciate.

"I want a guy to be able to pick up a stick and have it be dependable," Tim said. "To me, there is nothing better than traditional. But today so many kids want to use mesh. There are so many kids who have never used a traditional pocket — one, because they have no one to string one, and two, because they don't know how to take care of it."

We found that if you put mesh in at the top (of a traditional pocket), you get the best of both worlds. You get a consistent feel, over and over. With Trad Mesh, you get a great feel for where the ball sits. It sits right in the diamonds, doesn't bang around and when you throw, you get that smooth, consistent release you'd get with a mesh pocket."

Tim said he didn't want Trad Mesh to be just another gimmick pocket. So he's put dozens of samples in the hands of professionals and nearby box players, and the feedback has been consistently positive.

"They are finding they like the mid-to-high pocket and the smooth transition it gives you. The ball's there and then it's gone."

Youngs Brothers and White have a patent for the pocket in the works, and you'll be seeing different variations on the Trad Mesh pocket on ILGear.com. For now, take a look at this Warrior Evo 3 (box pinched) with an Iroquois color scheme. You can see this Trad Mesh pocket is strung with purple nylon runners, black/white cross lace, yellow shooters and sidewall and purple hard mesh at the top. Stay tuned for more from the Youngs Brothers.